When it comes to winning rings, Steve Kerr knows a lot about doing so. He won five championships during his 15 seasons playing in the league (three with the Chicago Bulls, two with the San Antonio Spurs). The 59-year-old has been the head coach of the Golden State Warriors for 11 seasons. The team has won four championships. With all the success that Steve Kerr has had on the sidelines, he has now set a new Warriors record.
Steve Kerr Now Sits Atop Warriors Record Book
Steve Kerr Now Holds Warriors Record For Coaching Wins
In what was a close game throughout, the Warriors were able to defeat the New York Knicks 97-94 on Saturday. The victory improved Golden State’s record to 39-28 on the season, good for sixth-best in the Western Conference. The Warriors have won seven straight and own a stellar 14-1 record with Jimmy Butler in the lineup.
The win also allowed Coach Kerr to now sit atop the Warriors all-time leaderboard for head coaching wins. It was the 558th time that Golden State has found the win column with Kerr leading the team. The 2015-16 Coach of the Year has 302 losses, giving him an excellent winning percentage of .649.
Kerr’s 558th win allowed him to surpass the previous record holder for wins by a Warriors head coach. With 557 wins, Basketball Hall of Famer Al Attles owned the record for many years. He had a 10-year playing career, all with the San Francisco Warriors. Towards the end of said playing career, he actually became the team’s player-coach. Attles coached the team through the 1982-83 season, finishing with a career mark of 557-518. He was on the sidelines for the Warriors 1975 NBA Finals win where they swept the Washington Bullets.
Amongst The Head Coaching Greats
In NBA history, Kerr’s 558 wins give him the 29th-most amongst all-time head coaches. He is one of 39 ever to record at least 500 notches in the win column. Amongst those 39, Kerr has the fourth-best winning percentage. The three ahead of him are Phil Jackson (1,155-485, .704), Red Auerbach (938-481, .661), and K.C. Jones (522-252, .674).
Kerr is also part of a historic group of head coaches that have won at least four championships. There have been just six to do so. The other five along with Kerr are Phil Jackson (11), Red Auerbach (9), John Kundla (5), Gregg Popovich (5), and Pat Riley (5).
In 2022, as part of the NBA’s celebration of their 75th anniversary, the league named the 15 best head coaches in league history. Kerr was part of that legendary group. In the 2015-16 season, Golden State set a record for most wins in the regular season with 73.
Even with all of his accolades, there is still a group who doesn’t give Kerr all that much respect. Some say that the Warriors previous head coach, Mark Jackson, built the foundation of a successful team, and Kerr just capitalized. Others state that having Stephen Curry (as well as Klay Thompson and Draymond Green) for his coaching tenure has made his life easier. Ask any of his players if they feel this way though, and you are almost certain to get a resounding no. The way Golden State is playing, a fifth title for Kerr as a coach isn’t as far-fetched as it seemed in January.
Photo credit: © David Gonzales-Imagn Images
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